I'm going nowhere! Leeds manager Grayson committed to the cause

04 January 2010 04:14

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Going nowhere: Simon Grayson

Leeds boss Simon Grayson has told any club casting admiring glances in hisdirection to forget it.

With the managerial merry-go-round about to start spinning as Bolton wait tospeak with Owen Coyle, minds are already beginning to turn to who Burnley mightturn to if, as expected, their Scottish boss quits for the Reebok Stadium.

Grayson is bound to figure high on that list, having impressed at Blackpoolbefore leaving for Leeds 12 months ago, since when he has patiently built a teamthat look certain to gain promotion to the Coca-Cola Championship this season.

His blossoming reputation was further enhanced yesterday when Leeds recordedtheir first win at Old Trafford since 1981, dumping Manchester United out of theFA Cup to book a fourth-round trip to Tottenham.

However, any thought Burnley might have of offering someone familiar with thearea a chance to cut his managerial teeth in the Premier League can be dismissedimmediately.

'My commitment to Leeds United has never been in question,' he said.

'Ileft Blackpool a year ago to join the football club I supported. Leedsis a fantastic football club and I am not interested in going anywhereelse.'

Yesterday's match-winner Jermaine Beckford may be toying with the idea ofmoving up the leagues with Newcastle, but Grayson believes he can achieve allhis managerial ambitions by staying where he is.

Wanted man: Jermaine Beckford

The chance of restoring a club who reached the Champions League semi-finals in2001 to former glories was the carrot that enticed him away from Blackpool inthe first place.

And, at such an early stage of an enormous project, Grayson has no intention ofwalking away.

'Leeds do not just have an English fanbase. It is Europe and worldwide,' hesaid.

'But we are in League One for a reason. The only way we get back into the big time is by reaching the Championshipand then the Premier League.

VIDEO: Grayson savours shock.

'Hopefullythat will be the case over the next few years. Maybe one day peoplewill look back at the 2010 team that won at Old Traffordin the FA Cup.

'It is that kind of stage players want to perform on and I certainly want togo back there in the next few years managing Leeds United in the PremierLeague.'

Grayson added: 'We are immensely proud of our team and what they have done today.

'We told the players to do themselves justice and be proud ofthemselves. They certainly did that today. I told the players that ifyou could perform at Old Trafford somebody would be a hero.

'Isaw Brian Flynn last week. He reminded me that he was the last playerto score a winner at Old Trafford in 1981. Jermaine Beckford will getthe credit now.'

Ferguson had previously never lost an FA Cup tie to a team from a lower league.

Headded: 'Leeds had a far bigger appetite for the game. You need luck andthey got it. But they deserved it as they played really well.'

Afterbeing drawn against Tottenham, Grayson said: 'It's a good draw again.We're up against a top Premier League team and a top manager and we'llapproach that as we have done for the Manchester United game with therespect that they deserve.

'But we've got a few league games in between and that's our bread and butter.

'It's another fantastic draw and another game that could have quite easily been a Premier League fixture five or six years ago.'

Meanwhile, Sir Alex Ferguson tore into his players after Manchester United's FA Cup humbling by Leeds at Old Trafford.

Shock to the system: Jermaine Beckford slots home for Leeds

Ferguson, who rounded on referee for playing only five minutes addedtime, criticised his failing stars after their defeat by League Oneopposition.

He warned them all they face the axe ahead of Wednesday's Carling Cup semi-final first leg against Manchester City.

Ferguson said: 'I didn't expect that. I was shocked at the performance. We never got going and the quality of passing the whole performance was bad.

'I don't think any of them can say they had a good day. Only AntonioValencia did OK when we got the ball to him, but it took us about 10minutes to do that after he came on.

Anger: United boss Sir Alex Ferguson cannot bear to watch as his side waste a chance at Old Trafford

'We have a semi-final on Wednesday and a lot of these players today won't be playing. I had the team in mind but there may be one or two changes now.'

Ferguson saw his team sunk by Beckford's 20th-minute goal and theresult was the only one of the weekend in which a lower-placed teambeat one of a higher standing.

Dejected: Strikers Rooney and Berbatov failed to register against lowly Leeds United

United's exit leaves their record of 11 FA Cup wins vulnerable to being equalled by Arsenal, who have won 10.

Leeds' reward in last night's fourth-round draw was another trip to face Premier League opposition, Tottenham.

The United manager was critical of referee Foy over the five minutes' added time, saying: 'That's an insult to the game and to the players out there.'

These comments will interest the FA, given that Ferguson was given a four-match ban with two of them suspended for 18 months after criticising the fitness of referee Alan Wiley earlier in the season.

His assessment of Nemanja Vidic's reasons for limping out of thewarm-up before the game also appear to hint at a problem in hisrelationship with the Serbian defender.

Asked why Vidic said he couldn't play, Ferguson said: 'I couldn't tell you what the situation is. I couldn't tell you at all.'

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